“Good,” I growl with approval. “Because I don’t want my girl to endure all that chaos.”
“I know,” she nods. “Let’s see if the request goes through, but I hope so because I want out sooner rather than later.”
“I’m sure it will,” I say in an encouraging tone. “Trust me on this.”
The two of us are quiet for a few moments when the waitress appears with our food, but once she’s gone, we begin to smile at each other like idiots.
“What?” she blushes.
“You’re gorgeous, baby,” I chuckle. “I can’t wait to get you in my bed again. Hell, I’m thinking about taking you in the backseat of my truck after we’re done here.”
She giggles, her cheeks going pink.
“Brody!” she squeals. “What if someone hears?”
“You mean when we’re in my truck?” I rasp under my breath while winking at her devilishly. “You bet they’ll hear. You’ll be screaming my name as the truck bounces on its suspensions.”
Cleo bursts into laughter again, and I can’t remember a time that I felt so happy before. But then she quirks her head at me while biting into her tuna melt.
“I hate to bring this up, but have you heard anything from my mom lately?”
I pause while attacking my Reuben.
“No, not recently. We don’t keep in touch with each other, so honestly, I wouldn’t know.”
Cleo sighs a little herself.
“Well, last I heard, Jeannie will be getting out of jail soon. She’s been on good behavior, so at least we have that to look forward to? Maybe? A little?”
I nod.
“It’s fine. We’ll deal with it when it happens.”
Cleo smiles, a little sadly. But then she shoots me a curious look.
“But one thing I’ve never understood is why you married Jeannie all those years ago. I don’t mean to put my mom down, but I just can’t imagine anyone willingly getting involved with her, seeing her problems and whatnot. You know that this designer purse thing is only her latest foray into crime.”
I nod, sitting back in the booth for a moment. The truth is that there’s a lot to unpack, and I’m not sure how much I should reveal to Cleo just now.
“Well, when we met, you have to understand that Jeannie was completely different. This would have been when you were maybe three or four years old. Back then, your mom was carefree, fun-loving, and enrolled in a nearby college to become a dental hygienist while working nights as a bartender. She was a single mom, and I loved that about her. I admired her for laboring incredibly hard, and for wanting the best for you.”
Cleo nods.
“Things have changed, haven’t they?” she asks in a soft voice.
I nod.
“They have, but back then, Jeannie had a lot going for her. She was smart, pretty, and practically a superwoman, juggling work with raising a kid and also making time for me too. I never understood how she did it all and still managed to have fun. And goddamn,was she fun.”
“What did you two get up to together?” Cleo asks, raising her brows.
I know better than to say too much, so I merely grin.
“Nothing too crazy. Not like what you’re thinking, sweetheart, because really, it was the simple things that we enjoyed the most. You know, just hanging out at the mall, or sometimes we’d bring you to a park. Even though we weren’t doing anything particularly special, we still managed to have fun, and she made me laugh,” I say simply. “Jeannie had a great sense of humor.”
“But then what?” Cleo asks, sensing what comes next.
I pause for a moment, thinking of how to phrase my words.